McCormack Alumna Publishes Capstone Research on Gang Prevention

Ngan Nguyen, McCormack Graduate School |
December 16, 2015

... a great model to show how our MPA students’ capstone research results in real life implications and impact.

Stacy Randell, an alumna of the Graduate Program in Public Affairs, had an article based on her capstone published in Afterschool Matters, a national, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the field of after school education and youth development policy. Randell's co-authors include Professor Amy E. Smith, graduate program director of the newly renamed public administration program (MPA), and Research Fellow Bernard Steinman of the Gerontology Institute.

The publication, "Creating Opportunities for Mutual Affiliation: Gang Prevention and Relational-Cultural Theory in Project YES," focuses on adult-youth relationships built on mutual respect and empathy as key to building better futures for low-income boys of color. "Identifying a specific youth development model and particular relationship-building strategies that can serve young people who are vulnerable to these dire outcomes would be invaluable for afterschool programs in low-income communities," Randell notes.

Randell serves as the coordinator of the Adult Learning Center at North Shore Community College. In this role, she works to improve public policy issues addressing the human consequences of income and education inequality and interpersonal violence.